Courtney Thomas is the main antagonist in the Sweet Valley High Super Edition Perfect Summer.
The beautiful Courtney is the daughter of Steve Thomas, an entertainment agent in Los Angeles, and a family friend of Bruce Patman and his cousin, Roger Barrett-Patman. She is considered to be about the same age as the twins. She is tall with black curls, and very fashionable.
When first introduced, Courtney was very snobbish, and she wouldn't even acknowledge the Sweet Valley group. Her main interests were her own likes and wants, and her troublesome mohawk-wearing, motorcycle driving boyfriend, Nolan Ruggers. Her attitude did not win her any admirers from the Sweet Valley crowd, at first.
She disrespected her single-parent father whenever she could; and always ended up on the back seat of her boyfriend's motorcycle. While the SVH kids went out to get a taste of Los Angeles' world-famous nightlife, Mr. Thomas talked with the two trip leaders, Roger Collins and Nora Dalton about having Courtney join the trip. At first, Mr. Collins and Ms. Dalton were skeptical about it, seeing it as Steve Thomas giving up in being able to discipline his daughter, and shunting the job to someone else, but reluctantly agreed to have her join the trip.
At first, Courtney was infuriated by her father's demand, but realizing that she could not change his mind, she adjusted to it, but, as was often the case, things were not as they seemed. Her acquiescence was a fake. She was really sneering at them all behind their backs.
It was all part of a plan to leave the trip to get back to her beloved Beverly Hills and Nolan. To that end, she focused her eye on Todd Wilkins and began to tell a bunch of false stories about her home life, aimed to elicit his sympathy, and to drive a wedge between him and Elizabeth. Her true aim was to use Todd to show her father that she had reformed and that he would allow her to come back to Beverly Hills, where Nolan would be right there waiting for her.
Courtney was certainly not to be trusted, especially by Jessica who thought of her as nothing but a phony and had no trouble seeing through her scheming and lying, but Elizabeth was conflicted, due to Todd's pressuring her to be friends with the conniving girl.
However, Liz began to become jealous when Courtney was plotting to break her and Todd up. This marks one of the rare occurences when a person made enemies of both twins.
The supposedly helpless Courtney was known for her constant manipulation, and she often pretensed being sick to get away from the rest of the SVH group, ostensibly to call her father, but more likely, although it was not proven, to call her beloved Nolan.
Jessica plans on making life so unpleasant for Courtney that she would make her leave the trip. Not just for her own security, but to make her pay for hurting Liz; however, things become hard when Lila Fowler decides to buddy up with Courtney. Eventually, the rest of the group was brought under Courtney's conniving spell as well.
Meanwhile, her scheme to drive a wedge between Todd and Elizabeth works like a charm. After another fight, Todd and Elizabeth temporarily break up, and he begins to spend most of his time with Courtney who is gleeful with the success of her lies. However, a potential disaster would later prove to be her undoing.
While waiting to talk to Todd, Courtney smoked a cigarette, and carelessly flipped it into a grove of nearby bushes. Because of a drought that had occurred, it became a forest fire. Thanks to the combined efforts of the group, the fire was put out; but Elizabeth thought that she had started the fire.
Mr. Collins revealed to the despondent Elizabeth the true reason Courtney was sent on the trip. It was a plan by Steve Thomas to get her as far away from Nolan Ruggers as possible. With that information in mind, that spurred Elizabeth to fight for her relationship, and to teach the wicked Courtney a lesson.
She confronted Courtney on her stories and the supposed reason she was on the trip. Courtney denied her allegations, and Todd was busy defending Courtney as had become usual. Courtney hissed that it was a private matter, and Elizabeth countered with the fact that Courtney's lies had begun to ruin her vacation. Courtney accuses her of jealousy until Elizabeth announced that she was leaving the trip, due to perhaps causing the forest fire. The rest of the kids were shocked and upset, but something finally dawned on Todd.
Coming to his senses, he cleared Elizabeth's name by revealing that he and Courtney had been out after Elizabeth had been, and that Courtney had smoked a cigarette.
Indignant, Courtney protested that it was a lie, but it was proven that she had flipped her butt into the bushes that had been burned most severely. Todd then decided to stay with the group, and apologized to Elizabeth for all the pain he had put her through. They reunited, with Jessica, normally not one who thought they should be together, cheering. Courtney was angry and told both Todd and Elizabeth off.
The next day, the manipulative Courtney was put on a bus out of Santa Cruz to her aunt's house in New Mexico, thanks to Mr. Collins. After that, the group finally finished their trip in peace.
After the Super Edition (which wasn't part of regular canon), she was never heard from or about again; although another girl, also named Courtney (last named Kane), with a similar attitude and similar designs on Todd, was made part of canon later on, in the book, In Love Again.